COTU hails Ruto’s cancellation of Adani deals

Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli

In a statement on Friday, Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli said the decision was, “bold, timely and unequivocal action”.

“This Presidential proclamation, issued on Thursday during the second State of Nation Address in Parliament, has restored the confidence of workers across all sectors but mostly those represented by the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) under the Kenya Airports Authority,” he said.

He noted that KAWU members had expressed fears over the contract terms especially the Indians taking over the operations of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for over 30 years.

Atwoli said with the cancellations, Kenyan workers have asked for proper consultation with them.

“We wish to remind all agencies of the State and Government that proper consultation with workers is a must prior to any strategic reforms,” he said.

He further said that the bold move by Ruto is the clearest indication yet that the success of the Kenya Kwanza government will be rooting out any suspicious deals and the successful prosecution of corruption cases.

Atwoli assured that Cotu will continue calling to promote the ideals of social dialogue among the tripartite partners.

This aims to achieve inclusive economic growth even as the worker’s organisation take an active part in the building of the country for the benefit of Kenyan workers. 

The Head of State canceled the Adani Group takeover deal of the JKIA and that of the signed deal with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company, Ketraco.

Ruto said this was in view of new evidence by local investigative agencies and information from partner states that link the Indian conglomerate with graft.

"Honourable members, I have stated in the past and now reiterate today that in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action,” Ruto said.

"Accordingly, I now direct, in furtherance of principles enshrined in Article 10 of the constitution on transparency and accountability and based on new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations, that the procuring agencies in the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA expansion private-public-partnership.”

The President directed the ministries concerned to "immediately begin the process of onboarding new partners because these are important projects”.

The development came hours after news broke that the US had charged billionaire owner of the controversial company, Gautam Adani, with fraud.